-LO- 


AN   ADDRESS: 

(ABBREVIATED) 

BeMverei  ibefore  tie  Congregation 


Jit.  ||ark'£  I  raitgclical  j  dtenro  |jrard 


)n  the  occasion  of  the  laying  of  the  Corner-stone  of  their  new 
House  of  Worship, 

■JULY    7,    187C 

BY  THE  PASTOR, 

REV.  ft.  ALDRICH. 


PHILADELPHIA  : 

AIG,  FINLEY  &  CO.,  PUS.,  S.  E.  COR.  TENTH  AND  CHESTNUT  STS. 

1870. 


Published  by  Si  Peter's  Church,  Phila.,  Pa. 


ERRATA : 

Page  1st,  line  7th,  for  lighting  read  lifting. 
"  19th,  after  we,  read  cannot  but. 
2nd,    "  32nd,  for  land  read   Jaw,    and   for  seven   read 

severe. 
5th,     "  11th,  for  purity  read  parity. 
6th.    "  23d,  for  minister  read  ministry, 
Sth,    "  1st,  for  receiving  read  renewinq. 


ADDRESS. 

The  laying  of  a  corner-stone  of  a  house  for  God  is  always 
an  occasion  of  peculiar  interest,  because  it  proclaims  the  tri- 
umph of  truth  over  error,  and  the  advancement  of  Christiani- 
ty, which  is  destined  to  "  cover  the  earth  as  the  waters  cover 
the  sea."  To  you,  my  brethren,  the  laying  of  this  corner- 
stone cannot  but  be  witnessed  with  the  liveliest  interest.  It 
is  the  lighting  up  again  of  the  glorious  standard  of  the  Re- 

j  formation,  and  a  tribute  of  your  gratitude  to  God  for  the 
unspeakable  blessings  of  an  "  open  Bible"  and  a  "  pure 
Faith."  I  am  persuaded  that  it  is  from  no  unholy  pride  nor 
vain    display   you    have    undertaken    the    erection    of    this 

k  church,  but  from  a  desire  that  you  and  your  children  may  be 
privileged  to  worship  the  God  of  your  fathers  under  your  own 
"  vine  and  fig-tree,"  and  perpetuate  to  succeeding  generations 
a  faith  purified  from  the  dross  of  corrupt  ages  by  the  in- 
tense fires  of  cruel  and  relentless  persecution.  It  is  a  Lu- 
theran church  you  are  about  to  build.  We  glory  in  the 
name.  Not  that  we  would  exalt  Luther  above  Christ,  though 
we  revere  the  name  of  the  man  whose  undaunted  courage 
and  heroic  "defense  of  a  pure  Gospel  astonished   kings,  and, 

.  under  God,  became  the  means  of  arousing  Jdie  religious  ener- 
gies pf  a  slumbering  Church.  As  long  as  history  records  the 
names  of  the  great  and  good,  the  name  of  Luther  will  remain 
first  on  the  list  of  the  heroes  in  the  Reformation.  Love 
him  !  honor  him  !  Who  can  do  otherwise,  when  Ave  think 
of  what  God  has  wrought  by  the  hands  of  this  great  man? 
— great  in  wisdom,  great  in  courage,  great  in  faith,  great  in 
energy,  great  in  everything  that  constitutes  a  Christian  hero. 
There  are  some — we  grieve  to  say  it — who  would  detract 
from  this  honored  name,  and  claim  for  themselves  a  separate 

i  and  more  complete  reformation  of  the  Church,  but  history 
will  ever  laugh  to  scorn  all  efforts  to  establish  a  Protestant- 
ism unassociated  with  Luther  as  the  great  leader,  under  God, 
in  this  wonderful  work. 


It  has  been  objected  that  the  name  of  Luther  should  be 
given  to  a  Church  professing  to  recognize  no  other  Lord  and 
master  than  Christ,  and  boasting  of  no  other  faith  than  that 
"  once  delivered  to  the  saints."  We  reply,  this  was  done 
neither  at  Luther's  suggestion  nor  with  his  approval.  Nay, 
with  great  earnestness  and  marked  displeasure  he  frequently 
protested  against  it.  The  simplicity  of  his  faith  and  strong 
dislike  of  everything  savoring  of  man-worship  made  him  in- 
sist that  the  Church  of  the  Reformation  should  be  distin- 
guished by  no  other  name  than  that  of  Christ;  but. the  ene- 
mies of  the  reform,  with  the  intention  of  stigmatizing  it, 
persisted  in  the  name,  and  God,  as  if  to  perpetuate  to  all 
time  the  chief  instrument  in  this  mighty  work,  has  permitted 
it  to  abide. 

We  are  Lutherans,  then,  first,  because  our  opponents  would 
have  it  so;  second,  because  the  name  identities  us  with  the 
movement  from  which  all  Protestantism  has  had  its  begin- 
ning.  We  honor  the  man  because  God  honored  him,  and 
we  look  back  with  peculiar  pride  upon  his  heroic  deeds  in 
the  defense  of  a  pure  Gospel  and  a  regenerated  Church.  If 
there  are  any  who  dislike  the  name,  we  rejoice  in  the  liberty 
they  have  of  adopting  any  other  they  please,  since  the  great 
bond  of  Christian  union  is  not  in  name,  but  "  in  the  truth 
as  it  is  in  Jesus  Christ."  For  ourselves,  we  are  content  to 
receive  it  as  connecting  us  with  the  history  of  the  past,  and 
as  fostering  a  spirit  of  utter  indifference  to  the  opinions  of 
men  when  theyfctand  opposed  to  the  plain  and  unerring 
teachings  of  God's  Word.  It  was  for  this  that  Luther  strug- 
gled, and,  in  the  strength  of  his  Lord,  at  last  prevailed.  In 
thought  we  are  carried  back  to  the  time  when,  as  an  humble 
monk,  he  sought  relief  from  a  burdened  conscience  and  the 
terrors  of  an  offended  land  in  seven  self-inflicted  penances, 
until  the  tortured  body  could  endure  no  more,  when,  as  if 
by  accident,  but  really  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
he  found,  (as  some  historians  tell  us,)  a  Bible  chained  to  the 
wall  in  one  of  the  cells  of  his  monastery.  That  Bible  he 
opened  and  continued  to  read  from  day  to  day  with  unceas- 
ing interest,  until  at  last  the  glorious  truth  illumined  his 
mind — "The  just  shall  live  by  faith."  From  that  moment 
the  clouds  of  darkness  that  had  so  long  a  time  obscured  his 


moral  prospects,  were  dispersed.  He  beheld  the  cross  of 
Jesus  Christ;  he  saw  the  sufficiency  of  the  atonement  made 
upon  that  cross  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  law ;  his  soul 
leaped  with  joy,  and  breaking  loose  from  the  shackles  of  a 
gloomy  superstition  and  cruel  self-abnegation,'  he  proclaimed 
the  praises  of  Him  "  who  by  one  offering  hath  perfected  for 
ever  them  that  are  sanctified."  That  Bible  unchained,  he 
brought  forth  from  its  dusty  cell  and  opened  wide  for  the 
perusal  of  an  astonished  and  delighted  world.  The  Church 
awoke  from  her  death-like  slumber,  and  under  the  energizing 
influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  broke  in  twain  the  fetters  with 
which  for  centuries  she  had  been  bound,  stepped  forth  into 
newness  of  life  to  assert  her  rights,  kindle  her  watch-fires  in 
every  quarter  of  the  civilized  world,  and  in  trumpet-tongued 
notes  sent  forth  her  preans  of  victory,  until  mountains  and 
valleys,  hills  and  plains,  cities  and  hamlets,  were  vocal  with 
the  praises  of  Him  who  is  the  sole  Head  of  the  Church  and 
God  over  all  blessed  forevermore. 

My  brethren,  the  history  of  your  Church  is  a  glorious  one. 
Let  no  man  rob  you  of  the  honor  of  being  a  member  of  this 
Mother  Church  of  the  Reformation.  Forever  cherish  the 
name  of  him  who  was  your  champion  in  the  great  battle  of 
religious  rights,  and  achieved,  in  the  strength  of  the  Lord,  a 
most  glorious  triumph.  Preserve  in  your  heart  of  hearts  the 
great  and  glorious  principles  for  which  he  fought.  Impress 
them  upon  the  minds  of  your  children,  that  in  turn  they 
may  be  transmitted  to  your  children's  children,  so  that  from 
generation  to  generation  there  may  be  found  in  this  commu- 
nity representatives  of  that  Church  the  corner-stone  of  one  of 
its  places  of  worship  you  have  this  day  laid. 

But  it  is  sometimes  asked,  what  are  the  distinctive  features 
of  the  Lutheran  Church?  My  heart  fires  with  holy  indig- 
nation at  the  bare  suspicion  of  a  doubt  that  our  Church  has 
nothing  by  which  she  is  to  be  distinguished  from  the  great 
body  of  Protestant  Christians  which  surround  her.  It  is 
true,  she  has  much  in  common  with  them  all ;  for  how  can  it 
be  otherwise  when  she  is  the  source  from  which  their  Pro- 
testantism sprung?  But  it  is  not  true  that  she  has  nothing 
peculiarly  her  own.  If  she  has  nothing  else,  there  is  at  least 
her  noble  and  time-honored  Confession.     Of  this   no  other 


Church  can  rob  her.  It  is  essentially  her  own,  and  before 
it  all  other  Protestant  creeds  bow  in  reverence.  Framed  by 
Luther,  perfected  by  Melanchthon,  and  admitted  even  by  the 
Roman  Catholics  to  be  the  great  symbol  of  the  Lutheran 
Church,  who  will  venture  to  assert  that  it  docs  not  distinguish 
her  as  the  mother  of  all  Protestantism  ? 

Then,  too,  look  at  her  organ izat ion.  Protestantism  has  ' 
assumed  many  phases,  but  the  Lutheran  Church  has  re- 
mained unalterably  the  same.  It  was  no  revolution  in 
which  she  engaged;  no  uprooting  of  the  whole  system  of 
Catholicism  ;  no  experiment  of  a  new  organization,  but 
simply  a  reform  of  the  old.  It  was  the  lopping  off  of  the 
withered  branches,  the  pruning  of  the  redundant  growth  of 
a  still  vigorous  and  beautiful  tree.  He  who  has  any  acqain- 
tance  with  the  history  of  the  Reformation  knows  full  well 
that,  at  the  first,  there  was  no  intention,  on  the  part  of 
Luther,  to  withdraw  from  the  Mother  Church.  He  sought 
only,  by  exposure,  to  have  her  errors  corrected,  her  abuses 
removed;  and  when,  by  excommunication,  this  responsibility  * 
was  thrown  upon  himself  and  his  noble  coadjutors,  their  re- 
form was  confined  only  to  hurtful  human  traditions  and  un- 
scriptural  practices,  alike  burdensome  to  the  conscience  and 
conflicting  with  the  Gospel  plan  of  salvation.  In  short,  it 
was  simply  a  return  to  first  principles,  and  the  liberty  of  the 
Gospel  was  extended  to  all  things  harmless  in  themselves  and 
not  expressly  forbidden  in  the  Word  of  God.  For  this  reason 
there  is  to  be  seen  in  many  of  the  European  churches,  and 
in  some  of  our  own  in  this  country,  things  that  might  shock 
the  sensibilities  of  ultra  Protestantism,  but  which  we  look  ^ 
upon  as  having  no  tendency  whatever  to  interfere  with  the 
simplicity  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  Christ.  These  re- 
marks are  alike  applicable  to  things  to  be  found  in  our  Con- 
fession also.  The  truth  is,  our  reformers  had  a  scrupulous  re- 
gard for  time-honored  customs ;  and  much  they  knew  to  be 
of  human  origin  was  nevertheless  retained  as  a  relief. to  weak 
and  burdened  consciences,  and  as  affording  opportunity  for 
admonishing  with  more  directness  the  erring,  and  instructing 
with  more  clearness  the  ignorant. 

I  say,  then,  our  Church  is  to  be  distinguished  by  her  or- 
ganization, occupying  middle  ground  between  the  corruptions 


of  Romanism  and  the  leveling  principles  of  ultra  Protestant- 
ism. She  neither,  on  the  one  hand,  tolerates  customs  and 
practices  that  are  corrupt  or  corrupting  in  themselves,  nor 
does  she,  on  the  other,  repudiate  anything  that  is  wholesome 
and  good  simply  because  it  is  human  and  not  expressly  en- 
joined in  the  Word  of  God.  Like  the  Church  of  England, 
in  some  sections  she  has  her  bishops ;  but,  unlike  that  Church, 
she  does  not  invest  the  office  with  Divine  authority,  nor  re- 
gard it  as  essential  to  the  perfection  of  her  organization. 
Like  the  Presbyterian  or  Calvinistic  Church,  she  recognizes 
the  purity  of  the  ministry;  but,  unlike  that  Church,  she  tole- 
rates and  retains  much  which  by  it  has  been  entirely  rejected. 

So,  too,  in  her  order  of  worship  she  differs  from  the  other 
Protestant  Churches  in  that,  while  she  is  ritualistic  in  her 
forms,  she  does  not  insist  on  their  being  rigidly  enforced. 
Classing  them  among  the  things  that  are  non-essential  in  the 
spirit  of  Gospel  liberty,  she  permits  her  ministers  to  adapt 
themselves  to  surrounding  circumstances. 

In  her  articles  of  faith,  too,  there  are  to  be  found  promi- 
nent marks  of  distinction.  Among  them  we  may  notice  the 
two  Sacraments :  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper.  Our 
Church  regards  them  so  necessary  as  not  to  be  neglected 
without  imperiling  the  soul.*  As  regards  Baptism,  she 
teaches  that  in  the  full  exercise  of  faith  it  becomes  the  effi- 
cient means  of  the  renewal  of  the  soul  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
so  that  the  subject  is  born  again  "of  water  and  of  the  Spirit," 
according  to  the  words  of  Christ,  without  which  "  he  cannot 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God."  In  reference  to  the  Lord's 
Sapper  she  teaches  that  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  are 
truly  present  under  the  form  of  bread  and  wine,  and  are  com- 
municated to  those  that  eat  in  the  Lord's  Supper.  In  this 
belief,  however,  she  rejects  both  the  doctrine  of  Consubstan- 
tiation  and  Transubstantiation  as  opposed  to  the  true  mean- 
ing of  the  words  of  Christ,  "  this  is  My  body,"  "  this  is  My 
blood."  It  is  in  no  local  or  physical  presence  that  our  Church 
teaches  or  we  believe,  but  it  is  in  a  divine,  supernatural,  and 
heavenly  'presence.  In  some  mystical  Avay,  inexplicable  to 
the  human  senses,  under  the  form  of  bread  and  wine,  we  re- 
ceive the  body  and  blood  of  Christ. 

Note. — So  does  the  Church  of  England. — G.  W.  M. 


6 

Again;  our  Church  is  distinctive  in  that  she  teaches  the 
duty  of  Confession,  not  however  in  the  Romish  sense  as  of 
Divine  authority,  but  as  a  wholesome  exercise  to  weak  and 
distressed  souls.  Nor  does  she,  as  the  Romish  Church,  insist 
upon  a  strict  enumeration  of  all  sins;  for  that  she  regards  as 
impossible — "Who  can  understand  his  errors?"  but  in  a 
general  way,  as  when  we  are  assembled  in  the  house  of  God, 
and  on  particular  occasions,  when  the  conscience,  burdened 
with  the  weight  of  its  transgressions,  would  find  relief  in  the 
free  acknowledgment  of  guilt  and  in  the  assurances  of  for- 
giveness and  acceptance  with  God.  Especially  does'  she  re- 
gard it  as  a  fitting  preparatory  exercise  to  a  profitable  par- 
ticipation of  the  holy  Eucharist. 

In  close  connection  with  confession  she  also  teaches  the 
right  of  Absolution,  or  the  forgiveness  of  sins.  But  it  is  in 
no  general  and  unlimited  sense  she  permits  the  right  to  be 
exercised.  Unlike  the  Church  of  Rome,  she  does  not  allow 
her  ministers,  on  their  own  responsibility,  and  simply  by 
virtue  of  their  office,  to  say  "  do  this  or  do  that,  and  thou  art 
forgiven;"  but,  regarding  them  as  her  representatives,  she 
confines  them  to  the  letter  of  the  Gospel,  and  forbids  the  ex- 
ercise of  this  right  to  any  but  the  truly  penitent.  It  is  not, 
therefore,  in  her  minister  but  in  herself  this  right  of  absolu- 
tion is  vested ;  and  they,  as  her  properly  constituted  officers, 
do  but  give  utterance  to  her  assurances  of  forgiveness  in  con- 
formity with  the  words  of  her  Lord  :  "  Whosesoever  sins  ye 
forgive,  they  are  forgiven ;  and  whosesoever  sins  ye  retain, 
they  are  retained."  And  the  exercise  of  faith  on  the  part  of 
the  truly  penitent,  she  teaches,  will  restore  the  peace  of  the  soul. 

Another  peculiarity  of  our  Church  is  to  be  found  in  her'' 
teachings  respecting  the  command :  "  Remember  the  Sabbath 
day,"  &e.  In  its  strict,  literal,  and  ceremonial  sense  she  de- 
nies that  this  commandment  is  binding  on  Christians,  but 
that  it  was  confined  to  the  Jews  as  a  people,  and  was  abol- 
ished by  Christ;  but  in  its  generic  sense,  as  requiring  a 
seventh  part  of  our  time  as  holy  to  the  Lord,  this  she  insists 
upon  as  a  binding  obligation,  necessary  to  the  work  of  grace 
in  the  soul ;  and  as  Sunday  has  been  set  apart  from  old  for 
this  purpose,  she  teaches  that  the  opportunity  it  offers  for  at- 
tendance upon  the  services  of  the  sanctuary,  the  preaching  of 


God's  Word,  the  administration  of  the  Sacraments,  and  the 
performance  of  all  other  religious  duties  should  neither  be 
despised  nor  neglected. 

These,  then,  are  the  prominent  peculiarities*  of  our  Church, 
and  are  they  not  sufficient  to  distinguish  her  from  the  vari- 
ous branches  of  Protestantism  by  which  she  is  surrounded? 
The  great  evil  to  our  Church  has  been  that  the  most  of  her 
ministers  of  American  birth  have  been  more  anxious  to  gloss 
these  peculiarities  as  blemishes  to  her  moral  beauty  than  to  hold 
them  up  as  the  marks  of  her  individuality;  and  the  result  has 
been  that  thousands  of  her  children,  from  sheer  ignorance  of 
what  she  teaches,  have  grown  suspicious  of  her  orthodoxy, 
and  turned  their  backs  toward  her  altars,  to  be  received  into 
the  communion  of  other  churches.  Thank  God  this  day  of 
compromise^  as  regards  the  distinctive  features  of  our  Church, 
is  rapidly  drawing  to  its  close.  What  is  taught  in  her  sym- 
bols is  being  more  openly  proclaimed  and  insisted  upon  as 
conforming  to  the  teaching  of  the  Holy  Scriptures;  and  we 
honestly  believe  that  in  the  pursuance  of  this  straightforward 
course,  so  far  from  losing,  she  has  everything  to  hope  for  in 
the  maintenance  of  her  dignity,  and  the  devotion  to  her  in- 
terests, which  will  thereby  be  inspired  in  the  breasts  of  her 
children. 

Already  in  this  country  is  she  a  vine  of  luxurious  growth ; 
and  the  time  may  not  be  far  distant  when,  by  immigration 
and  other  accessions,  she  will,  in  numerical  strength  occupy 
the  front  rank  of  Protestant  Christianity  here,  as  well  as  in 
the  world.  I  say  this  from  no  vain  glorious  spirit,  but  to 
inspire  you,  my  brethren ;.  with  energy  and  fidelity  in  the 
work  you  have  so  nobly  begun.  Let  not  your  zeal  grow 
cold,  nor  your  faith  waver.  'Tis  a  good  work  you  have  un- 
dertaken, and  God  will  prosper  you.  In  your  weakness  He 
will  be  your  strength,  and  in  your  poverty  he  will  give  you 
the  assistance  of  friends.  Go  forward,  then,  bravely,  cheer- 
fully, and  in  humble  reliance  upon  your  God.  Your  diffi- 
culties will  vanish  as  you  progress  in  the  work,  and  in  due 
time  the  cap-stone  will  be  laid  with  songs  of  rejoicing. 

Already  in  imagination  may  you  witness  this  result  of 
your  pious  labors.     Here,  in  their  infancy,  will  your  children 

*JNote. — The  Church  of  England  excepted. — G-.  W.  M. 


be  baptized,  and  by  the  receiving  of  the  Holy  Spirit  be  made 
the  heirs  of  eternal  life.  Here,  in  the  dew  of  their  youth  will 
they  be  instructed  in  the  pure  doctrines  of  the  Word  of  God, 
and  be  confirmed  in  the  faith.  And  here,  together,  will  you 
bow  before  the  altar  of  your  God,  and  in  holy  reverence  eat 
the  Sacramental  bread  and  drink  the  Sacramental  cup.  God 
grant  that  all  these  pious  anticipations  may  be  fully  realized, 
and  that  long  after  your  mission  on  earth  is  ended,  this 
building,  now  commenced,  may  remain  as  a  monument  of 
your  zeal  and  devotion  to  His  service.  + 

What  matters  it  that  the  trees  of  the  forest  instead  of  the 
more  durable  rock  of  the  quarry  have  furnished  you  the  ma- 
terial wherewith  to  build?  Its  chief  attraction  is  not  in  its 
outward  appearance  and  costliness,  but  in  the  fact  that  it  is  a 
house  for  God,  in  which  He  is  to  dwell  by  His  Spirit,  and  in 
which,  by  the  preaching  of  His  Word  and  the  effectual  work- 
ing of  that  Spirit,  the  kingdom  of  His  own  dear  Son  is  to  be 
advanced  in  the  world.  This  is  it  that  gives  importance  to 
your  work,  and  makes  it  an  occasion  of  interest  to-day ;  and 
long  after  the  materials  of  which  this  house  is  built  shall 
have  fallen  into  decay,  that  spiritual  temple,  of  which  the 
visible  is  but  a  sign,  shall  continue  to  expand  in  its  propor- 
tions, until  its  walls,  towering  high  above  all  perishable  ob- 
jects, shall  ultimately  touch  the  throne  of  God,  and  the  cap- 
stone be  laid  upon  it  amidst  the  shout  of  angels:  "Grace, 
grace,  unto  it."  Then,  indeed,  will  the  worth  of  your  build- 
ing appear  in  the  number  of  redeemed  souls  admitted  into 
the  kingdom  of  glory,  who  once  worshipped  within  its  walls, 
and  by  the  grace  of  God  were  enabled  to  build  upon  Christ, 
the  "  Rock  of  Ages,"  "  The  chief  Corner-stone,  elect,"  "  pre- 
cious," in  whom  all  the  building  fitly  framed  together  grow- 
eth  unto  a  holy  temple  in  the  Lord, 

And  now,  brethren,  my  work  is  done.  Yours  is  yet  tope 
completed.  This  day's  undertaking  is  a  new  era  in  your 
congregational  history.  May  it  also  prove  a  new  era  in  the 
history  of  your  religious  life,  so  that  when  your  work  u»i 
earth  is  finished  you  may  be  received  into  the  rest  that  rc- 
maineth  for  the  people  of  God.  "And  now  unto  Him  who  is 
able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly  above  all  that  we  can  ask 
or  think,  according  to  the  power  that  worketh  in  us,  unta 


9 

Him  be  glory  in  the  Church  by  Jesus  Christ,  throughout  all 
ages,  world  without  end.     Amen." 


The  following  is  from  another  author. 

The  Protestantism  for  which  Ave  contend,  is  the  Protest- 
antism of  Christ  and  his  Apostles.  The  reformed  reli- 
gion IS  NO  NOVELTY.  .It  is  not  the  INVENTION  of  LUTHER 
and  his  co-laborers.  The  Epmanists  would  taunt  us  with 
the  recent  origin  of  our  faith,  as  though  it  sprung  up  in  the 
sixteenth  century ;  while  their  own  is  hallowed  by  all  the 
suffrages  of  antiquity.  There  never  was  a  more  insolent  taunt, 
Our's  is  the  old  religion ;  their's  is  the  new.  Our's  is  at 
least  as  old  as  the  Bible;  it  has  not  a  single  tenet  which  it  does 
not  derive  from  that  Booh;  but  their's  must  be  younger 
than  the  Bible,  for  where  in  the  Bible  is  the  Bible  said  to  be 
insufficient  f  and  where  is  the  Pope  said  to  be  (or  described 
as)  sovereign  and  infallible  f  or  ivhere  is  sin  divided  into 
mortal  and  venial  ?  where  are  the  clergy  forbidden  to 
marry,  and  images  directed  to  be  worshipped?  and  where  is 
the  Church  entrusted  with  the  granting  of  indulgencies  f 
There  is  not  a  solitary  article  of  Protestantism  which  can 
be  proved  unscriptural!  The  Papists  may  derisively  ask, 
"  Where  was  your  religion  before  Luther  came?"  Our  re- 
ply is,  "In  the  Word  of  the  living  God ;  in  the  records  of  the 
Apostles  and  Apostolic  men:  and  in  the  practices  of  those 
witnesses,  who,  in  every  age,  have  refused  to  participate  in  the 
abominations  of  Romanism."  We,  on  the  other  hand,  ask 
the  Romanist,  Where  was  your  novel  religion  before  such  and 
such  an  usurping  Pontiff  issued  the  unscriptural  dogmas'? 
We  fix  the  doctrine  of  the  Papal  Supremacy  to  the  sixth 
century;  the  seven  sacraments  to  the  twelfth  century;  and 
' '  xinsubstantiation  to  the  thirteenth  century.  Let  the  Roman- 
ists prove  them  older,  if  they  can. 

Protestantism  is  Popery  restored  to  its  first  purity, 
cleansed  of  its  false  glosses,  and  freed  from  the  rubbish  ac- 
cumulated on  it  by  ages  of  superstition. 

Separation  from  the  Church  of  Rome  is  not 
Schism. 

REV.  HENRY  MELVILLE,  B.  D. 


